David Lammy has failed to apologise to Nigel Farage after claiming that the Reform UK leader "flirted with the Hitler Youth" when he was younger.
In a interview earlier today, when questioned about whether he considered Mr Farage to be racist, Mr Lammy stated he would allow the public to form their own conclusions about someone who had allegedly "flirted with Hitler Youth when he was younger."
The Deputy Prime Minister spoke to the BBC again shortly after making the comments and said: "He has denied it. And so I accept that he has denied it.
"And I would like to clarify that position, because in the end, the Prime Minister was keen for us to focus on the policies, not the individual."
David Lammy spoke to the BBC and said that Nigel Farage has 'denied' the comments
|BBC
The controversy arose during the Labour Party's annual gathering where Sir Keir Starmer delivered a forceful address targeting Reform UK's immigration proposals.
The Prime Minister declared his party would "fight you with everything we have" in the period leading up to the next general election.
The Reform UK leader responded swiftly to Labour's sustained criticism, characterising the attacks as "obsessive" during his own address to the nation.
He accused the Prime Minister of choosing to "descend into the gutter" with his rhetoric, suggesting Labour had abandoned substantive political debate in favour of personal attacks.
Discussing the remarks on GB News, journalist John Rentoul said: "It is not the politics of unity. I think that's the wrong route for for Labour to go down.
"You could see what what Keir Starmer's strategy is, he wants to appeal to those large numbers of voters who've currently deserted him or gone to the Liberal Democrats, the Greens or the SNP who don't like Nigel Farage.
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Nigel Farage hit back at Keir Starmer for the comments
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"He's trying to say, look, the next election is is about me versus Nigel Farage, so stick with me. I personally think it was a mistake to call Nigel Farage a racist.
"I mean, I could see why he did it, Keir Starmer saying that doesn't mean he's calling Reform UK supporters or voters racists, but I think that's a distinction that gets lost in translation, I'm afraid."
Martin Daubney added: "The first person to mention Adolf Hitler in any political debate loses. It's one of the rules of rules of life."
Speaking at the Labour Party conference, the Prime Minister described Reform UK’s migration policy as “racist and immoral” for proposing the removal of people who are lawfully in the country.
John Rentoul said that this is 'the wrong route' for the Labour Party
|GB News
He said he supports the deportation of illegal migrants but insisted that targeting those who are legally resident is “a completely different thing,” adding: “To reach into people who are lawfully here and start removing them is unacceptable.”
The Reform UK leader accused Sir Keir Starmer and his Cabinet of “descending into the gutter” because they could not defeat Reform “on the arguments.”
He insisted his party would continue to push for deportations of illegal migrants, restricting benefits to British citizens only, and the removal of foreign criminals.